Atheism and agnosticism have a long history in India and flourished within the Sramana movement. Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and certain schools of Hinduism, though not all, consider atheism to be acceptable.[1][2] India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers.[3] According to 2011 Census of India, 99.76% of Indians identified with a religion while 0.24% did not state their religious identity.[4][5] According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious, 3% were convinced atheists, and 3% were unsure or did not respond.[6]

In Hinduism, the religion of the majority of Indians, atheism is considered to be a valid path to spirituality, as it can be argued that God can manifest in several forms with "no form" being one of them. But, the path is considered difficult to follow.[1] The belief in a personal creator God is not required in Jainism and Buddhism, both of which also originated in the Indian subcontinent. Atheistic schools are also found in Hinduism.[2]

The Cārvāka school originated in India around the 6th century BCE.[10] It is classified as a nāstika school. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement in ancient India.[11] Followers of this school only accepted pratyakşa (perception) as a valid pramāna (evidence). They considered other pramāna like sabda (testimony), upamāna (analogy), and anumāna (inference) as unreliable.[12] Thus, the existence of a soul (ātman) and God were rejected, because they could not be proved by perception. They also considered everything to be made of four elements: earth, water, air and fire. The Cārvāka pursued enjoyment of life and elimination of physical pain. So, they can be considered hedonistic.[13] All of the original Cārvāka texts are considered lost.[14] A much quoted sūtra (Barhaspatya sutras) by Brhaspati, who is considered the founder of the school, is thought to be lost.[15] The Tattvopaplavasimha by Jayarāśi Bhaṭṭa (8th century CE) and the Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha by Madhavacarya (14th century) are considered important secondary Cārvāka texts.[13]

Sāṃkhya is an āstika school, but has some atheistic elements. Sāṃkhya is a radically dualist philosophy.[16] They believed that the two ontological principles, puruṣa (consciousness) and prakriti (matter), to be the underlying foundation of the universe.[16][17] The objective of life is considered the achievement of separation of pure consciousness from matter (kaivalya).[16] The reasoning within this system led to the Nir-isvara Sāṃkhya (Sāṃkhya without God) philosophy, which deemed the existence of God as unnecessary.[18] There is the opposing reasoning which accepts God, called Sesvara Sankhya (Sāṃkhya with God).[19]Samkhya Karika (c. 350 CE) is the earliest known systematic text of this philosophy.[16]

Mīmāṃsā (meaning exegesis)[16] is also an astika school. They believed the Vedas to be author-less and self-authenticating. They did not accept the Vedas as being composed by any ṛishi (saint), they considered them to not be authored by anyone (apauruṣeya). They accepted the minor deities of the Vedas but resisted any notion of a Supreme Creator. They only concentrated on upholding the ṛta (order) by following the duties of the Vedas. The foundational text of this school is the Mīmāṃsā Sutra by Jaimini (c. 200 BCE - 200 CE).[16]

Ājīvika is yet another nastika school with an atheistic outlook. None of their scriptures survive and there is some question as to whether or not the accounts of them in secondary sources (often hostile) are accurate. They believed in a naturalistic atomic theory and held that the consequence of natural laws led to a deterministic universe. They denied karma, but upheld the atman. They lived in ascetic communities and existed in southern India until at least the 14th century.

Gautama Buddha rejected the existence of a creator deity,[20][21] refused to endorse many views on creation[22] and stated that questions on the origin of the world are not ultimately useful for ending suffering.[23][24]Buddhism instead emphasises the system of causal relationships underlying the universe, pratītyasamutpāda, which constitute the dharma and source of enlightenment. No dependence of phenomena on a supernatural reality is asserted in order to explain the behaviour of matter.

Jainism rejects the idea of a creator deity responsible for the manifestation, creation, or maintenance of this universe. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents (soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion) have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws and an immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Jainism offers an elaborate cosmology, including heavenly beings (devas), but these beings are not viewed as creators; they are subject to suffering and change like all other living beings, and must eventually die. Jains define godliness as the inherent quality of any soul characterising infinite bliss, infinite power, Kevala Jnana (pure infinite knowledge)[25] and Perfect peace. However, these qualities of a soul are subdued due to karmas of the soul. One who achieves this state of soul through right belief, right knowledge and right conduct can be termed a god. This perfection of soul is called kevalin or bodhi. A god thus becomes a liberated soul – liberated of miseries, cycles of rebirth, world, karmas and finally liberated of body as well. This is called moksha.

In the Hindu epic Ramayana (Ayodhya Khanda), when Bharata goes to the forest to convince Rama to return home, he was accompanied by a sophist[29] called Jabali ("जाबालिः"). Jabali uses nihilistic[30] reasoning to convince Rama. He also says that rituals are a waste of food and scriptures were written by smart men so that people will give alms. But Rama calls him a deviant from the path of dharma ("धर्मपथात्"), refuses to accept his "nastika" views and blame his own father for taking Jabali into service.[31] He also equates the Buddha to a thief.[31] On hearing Rama's retort, Jabali retracts his statements, saying that he was merely arguing like a nihilist.[30] However, these verses referring to the Buddha[32] are considered a later interpolation, as those verses use a different metre.[32][33]

A character described as a Carvaka briefly appears in the Mahabharata (in the Shanti Parva). As Yudhishthira enters the city of Hastinapur, a brahmin, referred to as Carvaka, accuses him of killing his own kinsmen and says that he would suffer for it. The accuser is revealed to a rakshasa in disguise, who was a friend of Duryodhana. He had existed since the Krita Yuga by virtue of a boon from the god Brahma, that he could only be killed when he is showing contempt towards brahmins. He was killed by other brahmins by the chanting of sacred hymns and Yudhishthira was assured that his actions were the within the kshatriya code.[34] This event may be a possible denigration of the Carvaka philosophy.[35]

In the 9th century CE, Jain philosopher Jinasena wrote the Mahapurana. The book contains the following often quoted words,[36]

“

Some foolish men declare that a creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If god created the world, where was he before creation? If you say he was transcendent then, and needed no support, where is he now?

”

This quote was also featured later in Carl Sagan's book, Cosmos.[37] In the 14th century, philosopher Madhavacarya wrote the Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha, which is a compilation of all Indian philosophies, including Carvaka, which is described in the first chapter.[9]

Between 1882 and 1888, the Madras Secular Society published a magazine called The Thinker (Tattuvavivesini in Tamil) from Madras. The magazine carried articles written by anonymous writers and republished articles from the journal of the London Secular Society, which the Madras Secular Society considered itself affiliated to.[38]

Bhagat Singh (1907-1931), an Indian revolutionary and socialist nationalist who was hanged for using violence against British government officials. He laid out his view in the essay Why I Am an Atheist, written in jail shortly before his death.[43]

Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (1902-1975), better known by his nickname "Gora", was a social reformer, anti-caste activist and atheist. He and his wife, Saraswathi Gora (1912-2007) who was also an atheist and social reformer, founded the Atheist Centre in 1940.[44] The Atheist Centre is an institute working for social change.[45] Gora expounded his philosophy of positive atheism as a way of life.[44] He later wrote more about positive atheism in his 1972 book, Positive Atheism.[46] Gora also organised the first World Atheist Conference in 1972. Subsequently, the Atheist Centre has organised several World Atheist Conferences in Vijayawada and other locations.[45]

In 2009, historian Meera Nanda published a book entitled "The God Market". It examines how Hindu religiosity is gaining more popularity in the rising middle class, as India is liberalising the economy and adopting globalisation.[54]

On 10 March 2012, Sanal Edamaruku investigated a so-called miracle in Vile Parle, where a Jesus statue had started weeping and concluded that the problem was caused by faulty drainage. Later that day, during a TV discussion with some church members, Edamaruku accused the Catholic Church of miracle-mongering. On 10 April, Angelo Fernandes, President of the Maharashtra Christian Youth Forum, filed a police complaint against Edamaruku under the Indian Penal Code Section 295A.[58] In July while on a tour in Finland, Edamaruku was informed by a friend that his house was visited by the police. Since the offence is not bailable, Edamaruku stayed in Finland.[59]

On Friday 7 July 2013, the first "Hug an Atheist Day" was organised in India by Nirmukta. The event aimed to spread awareness and reduce the stigma associated with being an atheist.[60][61]

On 20 August 2013, Narendra Dabholkar, a rationalist and anti-superstition campaigner,[62] was shot dead by two unknown assailants, while he was out on a morning walk.[63]

There is a growing number of Indian Muslims gradually leaving Islam, driven by a questioning mind and joining the group of Ex-Muslims.[64]

Atheism and irreligion are not officially recognised in India. Apostasy is allowed under the right to freedom of religion in the Constitution, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 allows the marriage of people with no religious beliefs, as well as non-religious and non-ritualistic marriages. However, there are no specific laws catering to atheists and they are considered as belonging to the religion of their birth for administrative purposes.[53]

On 29 October 2013, the Bombay High Court judged in favour of an atheist school teacher from Nashik.[65] Sanjay Salve had been employed by the state-funded Savitribai Phule Secondary School since 1996. In June 2007, during a prayer session, Salve didn't fold his hands during the pledge or prayer. The school management called this indiscipline and refused him a higher pay grade in 2008 when Salve became eligible for it. Salve sought legal recourse citing the Section 28 (a) of the Constitution which states "no person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution".[66][67] The court ruled in Salve's favour and directed the school to release his dues by 31 January 2014.[68]

On 23 September 2014, the Bombay High Court declared that the government cannot force a person to state a religion on any document or form. The court also stated any citizen has the right to declare that he/she doesn't belong to any religion. The decision came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ranjit Mohite, Kishore Nazare and Subhash Ranware, representing an organisation called Full Gospel Church of God, after the Maharashtra state printing press refused to issue them a gazette notification stating that they belonged to no religion. The petitioners stated that the organisation had 4000 members, and that they believe in Jesus Christ but they do not follow Christianity or any religion. Responding to the petition, the Maharashtra and the central governments had stated that "no religion" cannot be treated as a religion on official forms. The court cited the Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees right to freedom of conscience, while passing the verdict.[69][70]

Narendra Nayak has claimed to have been attacked three times and had his scooter damaged twice, with one of the attacks leaving him with head injuries. This compelled him to take self-defence lessons and carry a nunchaku.[71]Megh Raj Mitter's house was surrounded by a mob after he debunked the Hindu milk miracle, forcing him to call the police.[72]

On 15 March 2007, a bounty of ₹7 lakh was announced on atheist[73]Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin, while living in India, by a Muslim cleric named Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan for allegedly writing derogatory statements about Mohammad in her work.[74] In December 2013, an FIR was filed against Nasrin in Bareilly by a cleric named Hasan Raza Khan, for hurting religious sentiments. Nasrin had allegedly tweeted on Twitter that "In India, criminals who issue fatwas against women don't get punished." Raza Khan said that by accusing clerics of being criminals, Nasrin had hurt religious sentiments.[75]

On 16 February 2015, rationalist Govind Pansare and his wife were attacked by unknown gunmen. He later died from the wounds on 20 February.[77] On 30 August 2015, M. M. Kalburgi, a scholar and rationalist, was shot dead at his home. He was known for his criticism of superstition and idol worship.[78][79] Soon afterwards, another rationalist and author, K. S. Bhagwan, received a threatening letter. He had offended religious groups by criticizing the Gita.[80][81]

In March 2017, an Indian Muslim youth from Coimbatore, 31-year-old A Farooq, who became rationalist and atheist, was killed by members of a Muslim radical group.[82][83]

The Indian census does not explicitly count atheists.[3] In the 2011 Census of India, the response form required the respondent to choose from six options under religion. The "Others" option was meant for minor or tribal religions as well as atheists and agnostics.[53]

The religion data from 2011 Census of India was released in August 2015. It revealed that about 2,870,000 people had stated no religion in their response, about 0.27% of the nation's population.[84] However, the number included atheists, rationalists and also those who believed in a higher power. K. Veeramani, a Dravidar Kazhagam leader, said that it was the first time the number of non-religious people was recorded in the census. However, he added that he believed that the number of atheists in India was actually higher as many people don't reveal their atheism out of fear.[85]

According to the 2005 Global Index of Religion and Atheism report from WIN-Gallup, 87% of Indians were religious and 4% called themselves atheists.[87] According to the 2012 report by the same organisation, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were not religious, 3% were convinced atheists and 3% were unsure or did not respond.[6]

^Thera, Nyanaponika. "Buddhism and the God-idea". The Vision of the Dhamma. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. In Buddhist literature, the belief in a creator god (issara-nimmana-vada) is frequently mentioned and rejected, along with other causes wrongly adduced to explain the origin of the world; as, for instance, world-soul, time, nature, etc. God-belief, however, is placed in the same category as those morally destructive wrong views which deny the kammic results of action, assume a fortuitous origin of man and nature, or teach absolute determinism. These views are said to be altogether pernicious, having definite bad results due to their effect on ethical conduct.

^Thanissaro Bhikku (1997). "Acintita Sutta: Unconjecturable". AN 4.77. Access To Insight. Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.

^Thanissaro Bhikku (1998). "Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya". Access To Insight. It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him. In the same way, if anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that 'The cosmos is eternal,'... or that 'After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,' the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata.